Women's History Month: Foreign Affairs Officer
Navy leaders and pioneers
21 March 2016
"From the Revolutionary War to current conflicts, women have played a crucial role in the security of our nation and the success of the U.S. Navy. Join us as we celebrate Women's History Month by profiling women leaders and pioneers across the Navy."
Captain Elizabeth Thomas, American Legation United States Naval Attache, Quito, Ecuador
Q: Why did you decide to join/serve the Navy?
A: I joined the Navy because I liked ships.
As a child, I remember being fascinated by the navy ships pictured in films like Victory at Sea, Midway, and Sink the Bismark. But growing up in Northern California, the Navy didn't look like a career path that was open to women. Then one day, as a high school sophomore walking through the counselors' office, I saw a poster for the U.S. Naval Academy with a female midshipman featured front and center. Everything changed. Suddenly the Navy was an option for me. I applied and was accepted to the Naval Academy and on service selection night in 1989 I selected surface warfare. I was going to serve on the ships I had admired so much as a child.
Q: Who have your role models or mentors been that have influenced you or helped to guide you?
A: I've been fortunate to have had many mentors and role models throughout my career.
As a junior officer on my first ship, USS Niagara Falls (AFS-3), I looked up to Lt. Cmdr. Pam Markiewicz who was the operations officer and first lieutenant. In my eyes, Lt. Cmdr. Markiewicz had done it all and was a pioneer for women at sea. I modeled my early career after hers, studying the same masters at Naval Postgraduate School, operations research, and seeking the most challenging assignments at sea to broaden my professional development.
In 2005, I requested to change my designator to Foreign Area Officer (FAO), a new designator in the Navy that was just starting up. My first assignment as a FAO was to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City as the Navy Section Chief. In Mexico, I worked with an outstanding Army Officer, Major Michael Rayburn, an Army FAO who taught me what it means to be a FAO. A Foreign Area Officer is a first responder who uses language skills and cross-cultural expertise to solve problems for both foreign and U.S. militaries. He or she enhances access to a partner navy or looks for opportunities to develop access where there is none.
I think senior officers need mentors as much as junior officers. When I worked on the Navy staff, I had the opportunity to work for Captain Lisa Franchetti. It was the first time I had worked for a woman since USS Niagara Falls. Captain Franchetti, now Rear Admiral Franchetti, taught me how to write a FITREP on myself. We are told time and time again that we are responsible for our service records-for ensuring that our records are accurate and up-to-date. But that advice also extends to how we write about ourselves in 17 lines in block 41. Sure, it is only a first draft, but you should give your reporting senior the best of starting points. Sometimes you have to promote yourself.
Q: Please tell us a story about someone, perhaps in your family or otherwise, who has influenced you or challenged you to become more than you ever thought you might.
A: My mother, Judy Thomas, is a teacher. She comes from a small coal-mining town in Ohio.
My mother is left-handed. Back when mom went to elementary school being left-handed was considered wrong and something that must be corrected. Fortunately, my grandmother was a reader, and she read, probably in Reader's Digest, that left-handed people did not need to be corrected. My grandmother put a stop to the teacher's correction and to this day my mother has the most beautiful handwriting, with her left hand.
I come from a family of strong women. My mother taught me that everything you do, from a math test to a decision paper is a reflection of yourself and should always be your best effort. She also taught me that you always have options and to see unexpected challenges as opportunity. I am who I am today because of my mother.
Q: Please tell us which past assignments are the most memorable to you and why.
A: My first assignment as a division officer was onboard USS Niagara Falls (AFS 3) homeported in Agana, Guam.
Guam is a long way from the United States and in 1990, before the internet and cell phones, it was even further. I completed two deployments while stationed in Guam, the first during Operation Desert Storm and the second during Somalia Relief Operations. It was everything that I had imagined a Navy tour at sea to be: typhoons, port calls, underway replenishments at sea. I remember standing watch on the bridge in the Persian Gulf and looking out to see four aircraft carriers.
We conducted an underway replenishment one day with a battleship on either side. It was hard work, much harder than I had anticipated from watching those films I loved so much as a child. I learned a lot about people and how they react under pressure. I learned how I react under pressure. I learned a lot about leadership. I also learned that there is more to the Navy than ships. It was on USS Niagara Falls that I met my first U.S. military attache and I began to look for opportunities to serve overseas as a representative of the U.S. Navy.
In 2001, I was assigned to the Sixth Fleet Staff as an exercise planner. I worked with foreign navies throughout the Mediterranean planning bilateral and multilateral naval exercises. I was in Turkey planning a search and rescue exercise with the Turkish and Israeli navies on September 11, 2001. I remember vividly the shock on my counterparts faces as the towers fell. The world became a much smaller place that day. Exercise planning seemed to take on a new sense of purpose, a need to improve interoperability in order to confront a new threat to world order.
My tour at Sixth Fleet reinforced my desire to work with the International Community. Although the FAO Community did not yet exist, I like to think that my tour at Sixth Fleet was my first FAO assignment.
Q: What does being a leader in the Navy mean to you?
A: Listening. Observing. Knowing your people.
Remembering what it was like your first year in the Navy.
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Cmdr. Jennifer Jones FAO Community Manager, BUPERS 31, Millington, Tennessee
Q: Why did you decide to join/serve the Navy?
A: As early as grade school, my answer to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" was "a lieutenant in the Navy".
During my childhood summers, I listened to my grandfather's recollections of World War II serving on the USS Samuel Greene. Through his stories and artwork, it was clear to me that I wanted to be part of something bigger and more important than me. I wanted to contribute to our nation like he had. Most specifically, I wanted to be like the lieutenant that he spoke of, I wanted to be a smart, kind, and brave leader.
Q: Who have your role models or mentors been that have influenced you or helped to guide you?
A: I have had many role models and mentors who have positively influenced me and guided me.
I was fortunate to join the Navy in the late 1990s when every opportunity I was interested in was open to everyone regardless of gender or race. There were successful male and female Officers senior to me as well as enlisted professionals more experienced than me whom I could watch and attempt to embody their best attributes as leaders. As a naval flight officer, there was an Officer slightly senior to me in my first squadron who challenged me to be the best I could be. He led by example, was brilliant and treated everyone with respect regardless of rank or position. I saw the impact he personally made and wanted to do the same. In my mind, he was similar to the Lt. with whom my grandfather had served.
At the same squadron, I was fortunate to work with an amazing chiefs mess, several of whom molded my view of the importance of being a hardworking, smart, kind, driven and team-focused officer. Later, I went to an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Conference and for the first time I had an opportunity to speak with a successful female Navy captain one-on-one. The talk we had over the conference breakfast impacted me more than she will ever know. She inspired me to understand that for some the Navy career is enough, but for others, family was important as well. I knew that I wanted both. During my subsequent tours at U.S. Pacific Fleet Staff and U.S Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet Staff, I watched successful Naval professionals navigate the waters of international engagement while maintaining healthy family relationships at home. I still look to my mentors and those senior to me as I try to constantly improve my work life balance.
Q: Please tell us a story about someone, perhaps in your family or otherwise, who has influenced you or challenged you to become more than you ever thought you might.
A: As a child, my parents taught me that I could do anything I wanted if I worked at it hard enough.
My Dad and I started biking together when I was nine. By the time I was 17, I had broken a 24 hour Father-Daughter record with him and rode my bike round trip between Paris to Brest, France. I am grateful that they showed me how to look for great opportunities and work to make the best of them. In the years that have followed, with my parents still proud of my accomplishments in the Navy and as a mother of three girls, it has been my husband who has influenced me to strive to reach my potential. He quits his job every time I receive new orders so that we can keep our family together.
Although he doesn't pressure me directly, his sacrifice inspires me to work hard to ensure that those sacrifices for my Navy career are validated by my success. I also find that my children indirectly influence me to challenge myself. When I am at work, I do the best that I can so that when I return home I know made a difference in my day away from them. I want them to be proud of their Mom, and I want to be a good example for them.
Q: Please tell us which past assignments are the most memorable to you and why.
A: I am quite fortunate that I have had one memorable assignment after another in the Navy over the last twenty years.
As a junior officer, I enjoyed flying as part of the largest aircrews in the Navy and at the time I thought nothing could be better. But as a senior Lt. in the International Engagement Shop (N51) as a country desk officer at U.S. Pacific Fleet staff, I had the opportunity to plan and forge deeper engagements with other navies and I felt like I could personally make a difference as a Foreign Area Officer (FAO).
I enjoyed every minute of being on the team that planned and executed the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (22 countries meeting at the O-10 level) in Hawaii. My time at Naval Postgraduate School was enlightening for me as I learned to read and write with a critical eye. At the same time I gained professional and academic relationships with both U.S. and Foreign Officers which I continue to cultivate. But, it was returning to the fleet which I enjoyed even more. As a lieutenant commander at U.S Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet staff I had even more amazing opportunities which included joint exercises with UK, French and Russian navies; briefing admirals and leading meetings as the Deputy Europe Division Lead; going to the West Coast of Africa on board the French naval ship the FOUDRE for two weeks; training our African partners on board the USS Gunston Hall in Maritime Domain Awareness alongside an Italian lieutenant commander; and standing watch as the C6F battle watch captain.
Just when I thought the job couldn't get better, I was underway on a Spanish Navy F-100 Ship off the North Coast of Spain as the Navy Program Manager at the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation in Spain. I enjoyed my three years working Foreign Military Sales and Cooperation issues with the Spanish Navy; the opportunities that were available to me by working at the US Embassy were beyond my expectations.
My favorite event was sharing U.S. Thanksgiving traditions with my Spanish navy colleagues and their families. Even after leaving Spain, the adventures continue, and I honestly and frequently tell my boss that I love my job. The best part of my current assignment is talking with FAOs around the world and with Officers who wish to transition to the FAO Community, every day since July I have considered myself to be very fortunate to be a FAO in the position in Millington as the Community Manager.
Q: What does being a leader in the Navy mean to you?
A: I think that being a leader in the Navy is an awesome responsibility.
Leaders in the Navy are both trusted and empowered to guide the finest professionals.
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Commander Jennifer Mills
Q: Why did you decide to join/serve the Navy?
A: The short answer is "To see the world".
The long answer is that I was always motivated to return something to the country that took me in as a small child. I picked the Naval Academy more than the Navy initially, but have never regretted that choice. All the more so now that I have been a Joint Officer for several years. And since the Navy keeps serving up interesting, exciting and challenging assignments, I keep staying.
Q: Who have your role models or mentors been that have influenced you or helped to guide you?
A: The entire Navy female community has motivated and guided me - from the chiefs and master chiefs that kept me on the right path as a young officer to those first women paving the way in the surface warfare community as commanding officers.
I have always felt a sense of sistership with the women I have served with and I know we will always have each other's backs when necessary. I've had some fantastic male mentors guide me across the years as well. I've been extremely fortunate in my commanding officers and senior mentors.
Q: Please tell us a story about someone, perhaps in your family or otherwise, who has influenced you or challenged you to become more than you ever thought you might.
A: My mother is quite possibly the most amazing woman I know.
She masterminded her family's escape from East Germany at 14, she decided to visit the US after university without speaking a word of English, she took a giant leap of faith in coming back to America to marry my dad, and she raised 4 children to be successful, kind, and valuable contributors to society. She has more guts and bravery than most people I know, and I've seen a lot of both in my military career.
Q: Please tell us which past assignments are the most memorable to you and why.
A: I've had two incredible assignments (all the rest were quite a lot of fun and very interesting however): The first was as DESRON N5 during Abe Lincoln's WESTPAC in 2006.
During that tour, I planned exercises and training with 6 different foreign Navies, getting to visit and work in all of those countries. And this was before my FAO transfer, although it certainly laid the groundwork. The second was at SOCEUR, where I again got to plan NATO exercises with SOF all over Europe. That job took me from driving snowmobiles in the Arctic to driving RHIBs in the Black Sea.
For both jobs, it was the interaction and interoperability with our allies and partners that made them so special, and that led me to joining the FAO community in a hope that I could continue in the same vein and continuously increase our combined capabilities.
Q: What does being a leader in the Navy mean to you?
A: The single most important thing from my perspective is to take care of my people to allow them to fulfill their missions to the best of their ability.
As a staff officer in the FAO community, I've broadened that to include the allies I'm currently working with as well as our junior officers. If there's anything I can do in my position to improve their capabilities I do my best to make it happen.
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Lt. Cmdr. Jen Barnes, Office of Defense Cooperation, U.S. Embassy Jakarta, Indonesia
Q: Why did you decide to join/serve the Navy?
A: When asked this question, I always like to say I chose to attend the Naval Academy vice join the Navy.
I understood I had an obligation to serve in the Navy after commissioning, but as a high school student, my vision was limited to the next step, college, and the Naval Academy was my top choice. USNA was appealing to me for numerous reasons. I was a jock who played three varsity sports and so the athletic requirements were right up my alley; I was attracted to the history of the school and romantic lore of the Navy; I am naturally rebellious and also require constant challenges or I mentally check out and underperform and thus I thought the rigorous, continuously changing environment and mandatory summer training would help keep me striving forward and also provide a safe space in which to push boundaries; and lets face it, as many of my classmates were, I was totally brainwashed by Top Gun and wanted to be a fighter pilot. But, there was also something else. something deeper and harder to articulate.
My mom is a teacher from the provinces in the Philippines, and my father is a career diplomat from New York. My sister and I were born in Barbados, where my father was appointed as Peace Corps Director of the Caribbean. My father subsequently switched to USAID and I spent the rest of my childhood in Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Thailand, and the Philippines (where I graduated high school).
Living overseas in developing countries is the most influential factor shaping the person I am today. As a child, I loved visiting the U.S. There were no blackouts, there was clean water, not to mention mammoth grocery stores, cartoons, and McDonalds! As I matured, I learned my love for the states was ingrained much deeper than that. Growing up in international schools, you defined yourself by your nationality. "Where are you from?" was expected to be answered with a country, not a city. "I'm American," was a phrase I said almost weekly. Having to assert my identity as an American contributed to my intense patriotism, especially because I occasionally had to defend it. One, I look Asian, and two, the USA is not always favorably received. Over time, I learned that the things that make our country great boil down to both our democratic principles and the inherent nature of Americans to strive for self-improvement while extending a hand to those less fortunate.
As a child in Bangkok, I remember going to class and finding there were several new students. They had been studying in then-Rangoon, Burma and had to evacuate because of the 8888 Uprising. As a result, I learned the meaning of "coup d'etat" as an elementary school student and got my first lesson in how lucky I was to be an American. Another memory comes from visiting my Filipino grandparents. I remember wearing a yellow t-shirt that said "people power" on it with a picture of a raised fist. My cousins would flash me the LABAN (fight) sign, which was an "L" formed with their thumb and index finger. I didn't understand it at the time, but it represented protests against the corrupt regime of President Marcos. These are just two examples of my experiences growing up in the developing world, and each reinforced the idea that a strong democracy and ethical government are vital to a nation's prosperity and happiness.
This combination of my constantly reinforced patriotism and respect for government, coupled with the contrast of my life and opportunities as an American compared to those in the countries I lived in, made me feel really lucky and grateful and I wanted to give back. Thus, my 18-year-old self donned a dixie cover on I-day and I haven't looked back.
Q: Who have your role models or mentors been that have influenced you or helped to guide you?
I was lucky enough to be sent to the Harvard Kennedy School for my master's degree through the Navy.
One of the electives I took was women and leadership taught by Barbara Kellerman. In that class I was exposed to literature on the importance of advocates or sponsors vice mentors for women in the workplace. A mentor might tell you generic advice, while a sponsor will advocate on your behalf to help secure opportunities that will be more likely to help you advance. I have had three advocates in my career that have helped me get where I am today.
Rear Admiral Jeffrey Lemmons, When I was in the Pentagon, I had been assigned to a special projects team and reported to Rear Admiral Lemmons. Admiral Lemmons took the time to learn about my upbringing and when he was later appointed the director of the newly stood up OPNAV N52 International Engagement office, he recognized it would be a good fit for me and brought me on board. I became exposed to the FAO community while in this office and also amazing programs like the Pol-Mil Masters program, which is what funded my Harvard education. He had the ability to see where people's strengths or experience overlapped with our various tasks and assignments, and utilized us all in a way we found personally rewarding and also maximized our effectiveness. For example, knowing my USAID familiarity, he assigned me as Navy liaison to USAID after the Haiti earthquake. Over the years, he has continued to provide me sage advice and helped me achieve dream opportunities with countless letters of recommendation. I always thought I would get out of the Navy after my initial commitment, but his advocacy opened the door to incredible opportunities for me that I could not turn down. I would not be where I am today without him.
Vice Admiral Herman Shelanski, I worked for Admiral Shelanski at Carrier Strike Group 10. Similar to Admiral Lemmons, he had the ability to match people's strengths to tasks in order to achieve peak effectiveness. In addition, he also leveraged the opportunities his position afforded to provide access to us as well, something most junior staff officers are not exposed to. These opportunities both motivated and challenged me and greatly enhanced my skill sets. For example, he was invited to an executive NPS Strategic Communication Workshop, and brought me with him as he recognized my interest in the area. Knowing my penchant for interacting with international partners, he placed full responsibility for our international engagement on me and also included me in once-in-a-lifetime opportunities like when he was invited to dine on a Russian warship. Finally, he also helped me achieve dream opportunities with countless letters of recommendation.
Captain Mark "Munch" Asuncion. Munch was in grad school with me at Harvard, and as he did with all the Navy students, sought us out and brought us together to create a Navy family. He was a role model for all of us, even his incredibly accomplished civilian classmates looked up to him. Regardless of rank, age, profession, etc., Munch would treat people with respect, listen, and connect people for their mutual benefit. When he introduced people, he made them both feel like they were the most amazing, accomplished person, he is a true advocate. Munch recruited me to the FAO community, gave me advice, helped with recommendations, and most importantly, advocated for me within his community. This was vital to my eventual re-designation as a FAO, because my year group was closed out in FAO for 4 straight lat-transfer boards. He advocated for me with the FAO community managers and leadership, and while hands were tied until my year group opened up again, the FAO community really worked with me to not give up and keep submitting applications, and collaborated with my aviation detailer to find FAO-like billets for me so that if and when I became a FAO, the transition would be easier. If Munch had not advocated for me, I probably would have just been a name on a page or an e-mail.
Q: Please tell us a story about someone, perhaps in your family or otherwise, who has influenced you or challenged you to become more than you ever thought you might.
A: It was hard for me to find motivation in grad school, and it finally dawned on me why, for my entire life, I had been on a team, and worked to achieve team goals, and this was the first act that seemed purely self-serving.
If I did well, I and I alone achieved success, and I am not motivated by that. The great thing about the Academy and the Navy is the lifelong friendships you make. These are forged through intense stress, isolation, hardship, you rely on each other to make it through, to get creative and belly-laugh during the monotony of deployment, to vent when your tasker seems pointless, to provide comfort and support when friends and family are far away. Being a part of these great units and teams influence and challenge me to become more that I ever thought I might, I don't want to let my teammates down. Even if I am not personally invested in our task, my sense of obligation to the person next to me propels me to do the best I can.
My friends and family are the most important team in my life. As I am also motivated by adversity, and appreciate people who challenge my ideas and push me to grow, I rely on them for that. I have an amazing circle of friends who act as role-models and provide support and advice. I know I can count on them to be there for me, regardless of the insanity of the request, and they inspire me to no end. My mother, a magnificent, luminous woman, passed away when I was a plebe. Honoring her memory and trying to live by her principles helps guide me. I inherited my father's stubbornness, and also his intelligence. The former helps me plow through when the going gets tough, the latter helps me find solutions. My sister has a different worldview than I, and that forces me to re-examine my opinions, her seemingly unending patience is also a trait I aspire to. For my husband, there are no words, his sacrifices have enabled my success, his intelligence reminds me of how much I still need to learn. He makes me laugh, he holds my hand, he tells me when I am wrong. I aspire to be half as steady as him. I just had a son, and he is the new person challenging my life, a duty he has fully embraced. Nothing is as humbling as a newborn.
Q: Please tell us which past assignments are the most memorable to you and why.
A: I volunteer as a Blue and Gold Officer for the Naval Academy.
I always like to share the following vignettes with prospective Midshipmen and their parents as an example of both the challenges and opportunities that come with serving in the Navy, as well as highlight the fact that despite our designator, or primary specialty, we are called upon to fill a variety of roles throughout our career.
USNA, Plebe Summer, I remember the intensity of those Bancroft Hall p-ways, the sweat dripping off your nose, the echoing which just magnified all the yelling, feeling your classmates heat on either side of you, having your detailer screaming so close to your face his spittle would land on you, and that feeling of absolute calm I had amongst all the chaos. I knew the rate. I could do the PT. The magic of plebe summer is the cool confidence it instilled in all of us, and the ability to laser focus when all hell has broken loose.
My EA-6B Prowler Squadron, the VAQ-130 Zappers, Flying missions for the Jan 2005 Iraqi Election. We were tasked to provide a visible presence in order to deter potential violence at the voting centers. My aircraft, the EA-6B Prowler, was at the time one of the oldest aircraft in the Navy's inventory and was hence plagued with maintenance issues. During our deployment, it was rare that three of our four aircraft were in an "up" status at any one time. Because of the importance of this mission, we needed four "up" aircraft. Our squadron maintainers worked tirelessly through the night and right up until launch in order for us to go flying. Their efforts and the occasional tedium of 7-hour missions and our 6-month combat deployment became worth it when our limited aircraft carrier internet connectivity revealed news clips showing proud Iraqi people with ink stained fingers, a sign that they had voted. These elections were the first free elections in Iraq's history, with a fair representation of all groups.
OPNAV, Pentagon. My time in the Pentagon as a young LT exposed me to Big Navy and all the things it was trying to accomplish. As a CNO briefer, I would deliver the morning brief to the CNO and his staff. The room would have 3 and 4-stars at the table, and 1 and 2-stars would line room. It was really cool to be so junior and get to listen in to the ensuing discussions that would arise out of a briefing point I made. As a JO in a squadron, we would often gripe about how pointless some of the directives from higher up were, and would complain that "the Man" didn't care about us. Being a fly in that briefing room helped me recalibrate those thoughts. Those "pointless" taskers actually had a lot of thought and purpose behind them. It just had not been conveyed to us properly. In addition, the most powerful people in the Navy spent a lot of time discussing how to improve the life of individual Sailors, they did care!
CAOC, Al Udeid. Also as a LT, I volunteered for an IA as a Senior Offensive Duty Officer, which meant that I controlled all Close Air Support in either Iraq or Afghanistan. I would divert jets to ensure troops in contact received air support and managed contingencies such as weather and tanker fall-outs to ensure the ATO was executed as completely as possible. I sat next to a JAG and delivered authorizations to expend ordinance after the request had been staffed and approved at the correct levels. To be so junior and be entrusted with so much responsibility was just awesome - it gave me a lot of confidence and really motivated me to step up. Being a part of the process to help save American lives is incredibly rewarding.
Presidential Inauguration, I was honored to be selected to serve as a military escort to Secretary Geithner during President Obama's first inauguration in 2009. There was a moment after the swearing in ceremony and before the inaugural luncheon where, thanks to taking an incorrect stairway in the Capitol, I ended up feet from President Obama and President Bush. It was a private moment... they were standing side by side, facing the doors, waiting to walk down the steps of the Capitol and say farewell to President Bush. The official transition of power had happened, but the physical one had yet to. Both men were silent, deep in thought, and the gravity of the moment seemed to fill the empty hall.
CCSG-10. I had just finished an exercise called FRUKUS and had been responsible for the flag program for 2 US Admirals along with a French and Russian one. Leading up to the event and during, I had very little sleep as my team and I were working around the clock to ensure everything was perfect. All I was looking forward to was Friday afternoon, when they would depart and I could finally get some sleep. Friday morning, my Admiral invited me to go with him to have dinner on a Russian warship. This was the last thing I wanted to do at that moment, but declining was not an option, so I begrudgingly went along. My Admiral had dinner in the CO's cabin with the Russian Ambassador, and I was sent to the Political Officer's stateroom. I was the only American in the room and was accompanied by a few other Russian Officers as well as a crewmember who spoke English and was invited in to translate. The evening involved cured meats they made on board, reciting Russian poetry, and lots and lots of toasting. It took a few days for me to finally feel rested again, and after I was able to decompress, I was FINALLY able to appreciate what an incredible experience that was.
I like to share these stories with prospective Mids because they help motivate me when times are tough. Being in the Navy is hard. There is no question about that. You sacrifice a lot. There are many, many days where the stress, optempo, lack of positive feedback, and sleep-deprivation get the best of you and you hate your job and hate the Navy. But, as with deployment, given the right amount of distance to physically and emotionally recharge, you absolutely love it. As with most things that are really worth it, you can hate the days and still love the years. If you can stick it out, you can reap the rewards - a world of eye opening, fulfilling experiences with amazing people by your side.
Q: What does being a leader in the Navy mean to you?
A: They teach leadership at the Academy, they teach it at Harvard, you learn it on the job. Being a good leader has many ingredients. The one I would like to focus on here is participation, which is key to increasing true diversity. I have many classmates that have gotten out for positive reasons such as better job opportunities, different interests, etc. I have many spectacular classmates that have gotten out for negative reasons as well - dissatisfaction with the Navy, its culture, the organization, its people... their departure is a huge loss for the organization. When classmates find out I am still in, an incredulous look comes over their face as they say, "you???" I get where they are coming from, even I didn't think I'd stay past my initial commitment... I DO NOT fit the stereotypical Naval Officer mold, on paper or in person. That is exactly the reason why I need to stay in. You can't change the conversation unless you are a part of it. Being a leader in the Navy means that I can actively participate in change - I have a vote, a seat at the table, and I can take actions to make change. Also, just by still being here, I am changing expectations as to what a Naval Officer looks and acts like, and am changing the culture passively. I have heard so many times that "the only people that stay in are those that don't have other options." In my career, there have been some pretty horrible officers in my chain of command, so that statement is not entirely untrue. That is all the more reason why good people need to stay, and many do.